


Earthquakes and Concussion

by EllieSpirelli



Series: Tales from the Safe Room [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 05:54:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16592081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieSpirelli/pseuds/EllieSpirelli





	Earthquakes and Concussion

“Sir, you advised me to hold all communications until you are back in New York, but I have an alpha incident that requires your attention.”  
“What is it, FRIDAY?”  
“There was an earthquake in California that also affected the Malibu House. The safe room was activated approximately three hours ago. The earthquake passed two hours and 43 minutes ago. I am unable to establish communications with the house and the safe room still seems to be locked.”  
“Prep the suit, FRIDAY, I’m on my way.”  
“Sir, your suit received major damage during the recent skirmish. Especially the repulsors-“  
“Doesn’t matter, it can still fly. Power up, FRIDAY.”  
“Tony,” Steve intervened. “The suit is too damaged. We’re already in the quinjet, we can be there in a few hours.”  
“Two hours, 22 minutes,” Natasha threw in. “I have already changed course.”  
“See? You wouldn’t be there any faster if you crashed in your suit.”  
“Fine. FRIDAY, continue trying to reach the house. I’m going to call Pepper.”  
Looking at Tony walking up and down the aisle with his Iron Man helmet on, Sam leaned over to Steve. “I thought Pepper was in Japan?” “Yes, she’s negotiating a deal for one of the Stark subsidiaries.” “So if Tony is speaking with Pepper in Japan, who’s in the safe room in Malibu?”

The two-hour flight was torture for everyone. Tony was fidgety, unable to sit still and everyone else was exhausted and bruised from the recent fight.  
“Sir, I’ve been able to establish audio contact with the safe room controls.” “Put her through.”  
“Tony?” the voice was grizzly with static.  
“FRIDAY, clear that up.” “Working on it, sir.”  
“Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?” “I’m fine. FRIDAY said you’re on your way here?”  
“Yes, we’re about 20 minutes out. Are you hurt anywhere? What happened?” The voice now sounded exasperated. “I’m fine, really. There was an earthquake-“  
“I know that! But you should have been back out of the safe room four hours ago!” “The earthquake hit us pretty hard. Something must have hit the room, the manual override won’t work.”  
“Why do you need the manual override? And why couldn’t we get any transmissions through?”  
“I had to take the safe room and the whole house offline. Tony, someone tried to hack the safe room system during the earthquake.”  
“Stay where you are, Darcy, don’t move, we’ll be there in about – “12 minutes 53 seconds,” FRIDAY’s smooth voice interjected. “It’s not as if I can go anywhere,” Darcy answered dryly.

“Darcy is in Malibu?”, Steve’s voice was dangerously calm. Tony, focused on a holoscreen in front of him, answered distractedly: “Yes, she’s been working on a project at SI California.” “You knew where she was? Bucky has been going crazy-“ “Excuse me for not telling her whereabouts to the guy who broke her heart. Now shut it, Capsicle, in case you hadn’t noticed someone tried to hack me without setting off any alarms and I need to figure out if they got in anywhere.”

Glass crunched underfoot once they stepped into the house. The damage inside the house was extensive. Furniture was tumbled over or broken, anything breakable was in pieces. Tony, wearing the least damaged parts of his suit, cautiously led the way.  
“This is not just from the earthquake,” Natasha murmured. Sam nodded. “Unless Darcy is one hell of a party queen, but there’s no empty bottles around.” “Let’s split up and check the rooms,” Steve suggested.  
Carefully they checked every room. “Where’s the safe room?” “Let’s use the door in the Lab.”

When Tony removed the panel hiding the safe room, they could immediately see why the doors wouldn’t open. The metal was warped in the bottom right corner, blocking any mechanism to open the door.  
Muttering about the inferior quality of the metal, Tony used the laser in his gauntlets to open a make-shift doorway into the room.  
“Finally!”, Darcy dropped her taser to the floor with a loud clatter.  
Steve sucked in a breath when she stepped into view. Darcy did not look good. Barefoot and dressed only in pyjama shorts and a tank top, the full extent of her injuries was visible.  
Her body was covered in scrapes and bruises. Her hair was matted with dried blood from a cut on her left temple, a dark bruise blooming around it.  
“What the hell happened to you?”, Tony exploded. Darcy grimaced. “I was on the stairs when the earthquake hit. Hit my head on the banister and went down a flight of stairs before I could catch myself. I think I may have a concussion. Can someone please find me some clothes so I can get out of here? I’m freezing. And shoes, don’t forget the shoes?”  
With a nod, Nat ducked out of the lab. “My room’s on the second floor, third door to the right!”, Darcy shouted after her, then winced. “That’s a yes on the concussion,” she muttered. “Wilson can give you a quick checkup on the quinjet and then we’ll have Bruce do a whole workup in New York.” “I’m not going to New York. You do realize there’s hospitals in California, right? Hospitals with doctors and lovely pain killers?” “I want Bruce to look you over and Bruce is in New York. So we’re going to New York.” “I work here and –“ Tony made an impatient gesture with his hand to cut her off. “Your project is finished and the house needs to be rebuild – again. Besides, we need to figure out who tried to hack the system and trashed the house.”  
Sam ducked quietly out of the room, coming back with a bottle of water that he handed to Darcy. “Thanks, Sam. What do you mean ‘trashed the house’? The earthquake wasn’t that bad, there should only be minor damage!” “The house is completely wrecked.” Natasha soundlessly stepped back into the room, handing Darcy a pair of loose drawstring bottoms, a soft hoody and a pair of chucks. “These were the least damaged clothes I could find.”  
Darcy quickly stepped into the clothes and stuffed her bare feet into the shoes before stepping out of the safe room. Ducking around Steve, she dashed up a partially hidden staircase at the back of the lab. A minute later they heard a frustrated scream. “They even cut up my underwear! Don’t they know what bras cost?”  
Stomping back into view, Darcy mournfully clutched a few scraps of purple satin before letting them flutter to the ground. Steve’s ears turned red. Tony impatiently tapped his foot. “I’ll buy you new ones in New York. Can we get going now? Need to inspect the broken plates in the kitchen? No? Then let’s go.”  
At the door, Darcy stopped the whole procession. “Wait! I left my phone and my glasses in the safe room!” Steve, bringing up the rear, ducked back into the room. “I’ve got them, Darce.”  
Falling into formation, the four Avengers ushered Darcy across the lawn to where Clint waited on the lowered ramp of the quinjet. “Darcy! Long time no see! You look like hell, kid.” Squeezing her in a quick hug, Clint manoeuvred her into the hold of the jet with a vary glance around the grounds. The others followed. Strapping in, Clint called from the cockpit: “Where to?” “New York. I want Bruce to look her over.” When they heard Client quietly mutter to Natasha in the seat next to his “And there are no hospitals is California?”, Darcy just snickered.  
When the quinjet finally landed on the roof of the Avengers Tower, Darcy struggled to her feet, waving away all offers of help. “I’m fine, guys, really. I can go down to see Bruce by myself. And I really want a shower and some food, too.” She straightened her spine and marched down the ramp and across the landing pad. A lone figure stood just outside the entrance to the building. Five steps from the ramp, Darcy’s steps faltered. Another two steps and she stopped abruptly, swaying on her feet. Before Tony could move, she collapsed in a faint, only to be caught inches from the ground by the current Head of Security. Also known as Bucky Barnes or the Winter Soldier.

 

Darcy came to slowly. She was lying, curled up on her side, on something warm. Her face was pressed into something that was too hard for a pillow, but smelled nice. Her right hand was fisted in fabric of some kind. Something hard yet warm was wrapped around her. There was a faint sound under her ear, a soft whooshing. The hard pillow moved slightly. Apparently, it was time to wake up now. Darcy slowly opened her eyes and blinked. So, the pillow in front of her was actually the chest of a person. A male person. A male person that had their arms wrapped around her. Slowly she lifted her eyes and looked into the eyes of Bucky Barnes, her – what? Ex-lover? Ex-boyfriend? Something like that.

“Well, this isn’t awkward at all,” Darcy drawled before moving back slightly, so she could look at him without straining her eyes. His arms released her. Her whole body hurt. “You wouldn’t let go of my shirt. I caught you when you fainted and brought you here, but you wouldn’t let go of my shirt.” Darcy smiled wryly. She knew that “brought you here” was his way of saying “I carried your ass all the way from the landing pad to medical”. “And you thought that was a sufficient invitation for you to get into bed with me?” At his chagrined expression, she waved him off. “I was joking.” Then, after sitting up carefully, she added: “How long was I out?” Bucky moved from the bed to a chair next to it, careful not to jostle Darcy. “About two hours. Banner quickly checked you over, you have a concussion and some nasty bruises and contusions. He also wants to take some x-rays and for a proper doctor to check you out, now that you’re awake. I’ll go grab her.” He made to leave the room, but Darcy stopped him. Without looking at him she said: “Thank you. For lugging my unconscious ass down here. And sorry about the grabby hands.” Bucky nodded once, then left.

Hours later, when Doctor Iser had finally cleared her to go, Darcy went up to her apartment. Vision, her brother in all but genetics, had brought her some clothes and offered to stay with her, but Darcy wanted to be alone for a bit. Her body ached. Apparently, on top of the concussion, the huge bruise on her temple and the various scrapes and bruises all over her body, she also had two severely bruised ribs and a sprained ankle.  
Darcy sighed. All she wanted now was some peace and quiet. And ice cream, maybe. Her apartment felt weird. Her lights were on low, to help with the headache. Most of her stuff was still in California, well, probably destroyed now, except for the things she’d left here upon her move a year ago.  
Thankfully she’d left the furniture, otherwise she’d have to either sleep on the floor or stay in one of the guest bedrooms. Neither option really had much appeal. She poured herself a glass of water, then opened the fridge out of habit. Her fridge was fully stocked with groceries. Huh. “FRIDAY, why is my fridge fully stocked?” “I took the liberty of duplicating your last grocery order when it became clear that you would be coming back here.” “Thank you, FRIDAY. That was very considerate. Is there ice cream?” “Of course, Miss Lewis. Please check the third shelf from the top in the freezer.” Pulling out a pint of cookie dough ice cream, Darcy moved over to her sofa. “Friday, you’re a genius.” “Thank you, Miss Lewis. Would there be anything else?” “Yes. Please monitor my vital signs. If they reach critical levels or if I pass out, please alert Tony and Medical.” “Very well, Miss Lewis.”

Ice cream, pain killers and a soft sofa, what else could one want? A glass of wine or a stiff drink, but that was out of the question with the concussion. Darcy leaned back further into the sofa cushions.  
A shadow moved in the bedroom and Bucky melted out of the darkness. She sighed. That stiff drink would have been very welcome now.

“How did you get in here?” “You never rescinded my access.” “As if that would keep you from getting in here.” Darcy’s voice held a touch of bitterness.  
“You are right, doors or access codes won’t keep me from getting into wherever I want to get in. A no from you would.”  
Darcy sat up sharply, wincing at the pain. “I may not have formally rescinded your access, but I broke up with you. I packed up all your stuff and took it to your place, where I then packed up all my stuff. I gave you valid reasons as to why I wanted to end things. That kind of implies that you are no longer welcome to come and go as you please from my place of residence.”  
For the first time, she could detect real anger in his features. “Is this your place of residence? Because from one day to the next you were just gone. I had to hear from Natasha that you had moved. And nobody knew where you were and I COULDN’T FIND YOU!”  
Darcy waited, speechless, while Bucky pulled himself back together. “I couldn’t find you. I love you and I went from seeing you all day every day to us being broken up and only seeing you a few times a week to you being gone and I couldn’t fucking find you. I’m the fucking Winter Soldier and I couldn’t find you!”  
He was pacing up and down in front of the sofa. Darcy took a deep breath. “I was in California, working on a project with SI over there. After that disastrous party – it was hard, seeing you with someone else. And I was a little bit drunk and sad and heartbroken and just – left. Packed a bag and woke 200 miles away the next day. So I just decided to keep going. Met up with Jane in New Mexico for a few weeks, then I went on to California and stayed there for a while. I didn’t try to hide from you.”  
She shrugged, then winced as her multiple pains reasserted themselves. Bucky was watching her closely. “I was going mad for weeks, not being able to find you. Then I overheard Foster talking to Selvig about you, all excited about the readings you’d gotten. And I knew you didn’t want to be found.”  
He sat down heavily into an armchair, distractedly running his hands through his hair. “Bucky-“ “Don’t call me that,” he interrupted, sounding defeated. “Please.” “James. I’m sorry you were worried. I did not deliberately hide from you.”  
Leaning back in the chair, he laughed harshly. “That stupid party. I only took Janine from Accounting because I was hurt and I wanted to see if it would hurt you, too. Stupid.”  
“I was madly in love with you, why do you think I wouldn’t be hurt when you showed up to a company party with another woman?”  
Bucky’s face was open, when he looked at her. “I know you loved me. But after the breakup, you were always so together when we’d meet, while I had to draw upon every little bit of my training as the Winter Soldier to stay calm around you.” He smiled wryly. “You were right to break up with me. I was a mess. I didn’t even realize how bad it was until after you’d left.” 

He was silent for a moment, looking out the darkened window. “I did not realize it then, but I was suicidal. After everything I did because of HYDRA, I did not think I deserved to live. After that botched op in Paraguay, when you were standing in my hospital room shouting at me, I thought I deserved that. I pushed it away. I only realized how serious you were when I came home from medical to find you standing in my living room, a box with all your things next to the door. You were icy calm that day when you told me we were over. That you loved me but did not want to watch me kill myself. You were just so calm and steady and there was no arguing or fighting with you. You left and there was just silence. Steve came by later on, to talk to me about that op. I didn’t want to hear him. Then that party happened and you disappeared and I was spiralling out of control. I was manic. We went on another op, in Russia. It was bad. Very bad. I was this close to getting myself killed and very nearly took Steve with me, too. Stark came to see me while I was recovering. He was very serious. You know things are bad when Stark is serious. He told me a few hard truths. That there were easier ways to kill myself. That I was endangering everyone else on the Team by my behaviour. That he refused to work with me until I’d gotten my head screwed on right. The next day I told Steve I was off the team and started seeing a psychiatrist.”

Darcy was silent for a moment, contemplating what Bucky had said. What then came out of her mouth was not what either of them had anticipated. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say this much in one go. Or in total, really.” She blushed. “Sorry. What I wanted to say was, I’m glad that you are – getting help? Finding steady ground? God, I’m sorry. Usually I’m better at this kind of thing.” Laughing slightly, Bucky leaned forward. “Don’t worry. I’ve had a year to prepare for this, after all. I’m sorry. I hadn’t really planned on telling you all of this today, I just came to check on you.” Sobering up, he continued: “And I am sorry. For hurting you and pushing you away. For putting my own mess first, when you should have been first with me.” “Don’t apologize. We both made mistakes, and in the end, we can always blame HYDRA. Or Tony. When in doubt, blame Tony.”


End file.
